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Today's News - Thursday, January 30, 2014

Johnstown Police say 20-year-old Earl Mitchell Jr., of Philadelphia, is the man who killed Jareek Adams last Saturday near the Oakhurst Homes. A second victim, Jonathan Moore, was also shot multiple times in the head, neck and leg, but he has since been released from the hospital. Moore told police, he and Adams were talking to a group of people in a car when mitchell just opened fire. U.S. Marshals in Johnstown and Philadelphia are assisting in the search for Mitchell. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call 1-800-281-16-80.

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An expulsion hearing has been scheduled Monday for the 16-year-old Admiral Peary Vo-Tech student who brought a loaded 9 millimeter handgun to the Cambria Township school last Friday. The “Altoona Mirror” reports the teen was automatically suspended for 10 days. He told administrators he was carrying the gun for fear of being attacked by another student after school.

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An Apache helicopter with the National Guard unit at the Johnstown airport landed safely after the pilot reported that it was in distress Wednesday evening. “The Tribune Democrat” says one of the engines was reported to have failed. Two people were aboard, but they were not hurt.

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Pennsylvania’s smoking ban could soon be expanded. There are bills under consideration in the State House and Senate that would eliminate exemptions to the Clean Indoor Air Act, making smoking in all bars illegal.

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Legislation that would require background checks on lottery winners is on its way to the Senate. The bill, which unanimously passed in the state House Wednesday, would require background checks on lottery prizes greater than $2,500. If the winner is determined to owe back taxes, the money would be taken from the winnings. If the winner receives public assistance, an evaluation would take place to determine if he or she is eligible to continue getting benefits.

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People who had to abandon their vehicles is this week's big freeze will be able to pick them up at a number of locations around the Atlanta area today. They'll wake up to more bitter cold weather this morning but their frozen-in-place nightmare should end this afternoon. Forecasters say afternoon temperatures will warm to around 40 degrees, which ought to melt the snow and ice that paralyzed traffic Tuesday night.

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The Treasury Department is moving to create new retirement saving accounts. President Obama signed on executive order for the so-called "MyRA" accounts on Wednesday. The plan will allow people to purchase Treasury bonds for an account the President says will guarantee a "decent return with no risk of losing what you put in."

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President Obama wraps up his post-State of the Union trek with stops in Wisconsin and Tennessee today. Speaking in Maryland Wednesday, Obama highlighted the growing gap between rich and poor. He said the wages and incomes of ordinary people have not gone up in more than a decade. The President repeated a call for a hike in the national minimum wage, saying it is "time to give America a raise."

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The National Football League says security is in place on both sides of the Hudson for this weekend's Super Bowl. New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton says police departments in New York and New Jersey have been preparing for any possible terror attack.

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Justin Bieber is charged with assault in his home country. The singer surrendered to authorities last night in Toronto. A limo driver is claiming he was hit on the back of his head several times during an altercation while driving Bieber and five people in his entourage late last month.

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State officials in California say the drought is so severe that nearly 20 communities could run out of water within two to four months. The state health department put the list together after surveying the more than 3,000 water agencies in California.

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The state of Missouri has executed a convicted killer. Herbert Smulls was put to death last night for the 1991 murder of a St. Louis County jeweler. His execution was carried out a day after the U.S. Supreme Court granted a temporary stay because Smulls' lawyers raised objections over the state's refusal to disclose the source of the lethal injection drug they planned to use.

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Congressman Michael Grimm continues to apologize after an ugly incident in a Capitol office building. In a statement, the New York Republican said he was wrong and let his emotions get the better of him when he threatened to throw a NY1 reporter off a balcony. Grimm said he apologized to Michael Scotto and noted that Scotto accepted the apology.

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Amanda Knox will not be in an Italian court Thursday when the verdict is read in her retrial for the 2007 murder of her roommate. The University of Washington student who was studying abroad at the time of the murder is standing trial along with her Italian former boyfriend. Knox and the boyfriend were convicted of the murder in 2009 and spent almost four years in jail before the verdicts were overturned. She has denied any involvement in the murder and announced she would not return to Italy for the retrial, and will remain a fugitive if found guilty.

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The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is refusing to reconsider its ruling that upholds a California law banning counseling attempting to change a teen's sexual orientation. A three-judge panel ruled in August that the practice was dangerous and outside the scientific mainstream. Now, KCRA TV is reporting that Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal aid group, is planning to take the matter to the Supreme Court.

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Federal prosecutors will decide this week whether to seek the death penalty for the suspected Boston Marathon bomber. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is accused, along with his brother, of setting off bombs that killed three people and injured hundreds more last April.

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The Federal Communications Commission steps into the future of telephone technology today. The FCC will outline what it wants to see in trials for the so-called Internet Protocol Transition, allowing phone companies to move their services from traditional, land-based technologies to those based on the Internet.

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American Airlines is offering flight attendants $40,000 dollars to retire early. The airline announced the plan on Wednesday as part of a volunteer program officials hope will reduce staff by 1,500. The deal is open to flight attendants who have been with American for at least 15 years.

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Doctors say a treatment for peanut allergy is showing great promise in a large clinical trial. A study on the treatment says 84 percent of children in the trial showed marked improvement in their immune systems tolerating peanut protein.

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The Super Bowl commercials get almost as many eyeballs as the game itself. A new Nielsen survey found that 91-percent of consumers planning to watch Sunday's game also look forward to watching the commercials.

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A new survey says a large number of people are taking their Super Bowl party online. Media marketing company CrowdTap says 41 percent of respondents to their poll say they will be on social media most of the game. Nearly 60 percent say they will share their favorite Super Bowl commercials on social media.

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A new survey from Insure.com asked groups of men and women what styles, brands and colors of cars they find most attractive in a potential partner. Thirty-two percent of women agreed the men look the best when they're sitting in a pickup truck, followed by sports cars, SUVs, sedans and hybrid and electric cars. Thirty-nine percent of men said they find women who drive sports cars the most attractive, followed by sedans, SUVs and lastly, mini-vans.